I’m about a month behind on this post — but, of course, I took photos the day of my tenth adjustment, so all is not lost.

I also wrote notes while I sat in Starbucks for an hour after my appointment, waiting to go pick up Connor from daycare.

The most eventful thing about this adjustment was the fact that my orthodontist is no longer with the practice. For this adjustment, I got to see Dr. D., one of the two interim orthodontists. It’s interesting to basically have a second opinion mid-treatment — while I trust that a different doctor can finish my treatment, I also hope that he shares a common vision with my original doctor on how to get from Point A to Point B (and where Point B is, exactly).

I remember talking to Dr. N. about the endgame, and confirming with him that all my teeth would touch by the end of my treatment. He said that, yes, he would get them as close as he could, which still seems amazing to me. Right now, when I close my mouth fully, I can touch my left molars, but my right molars don’t quite touch top and bottom, and my front teeth touch with a slight overbite still.

So, we’ll see where Dr. D. takes me.

One of the first things he mentioned was the shape of my front teeth. He suggested that he could improve their bell shape by doing some bonding. That surprised me, since I expected that any additional cosmetic tweaks would be done after all my teeth were in their final position.

Since I had someone new to ask, I pointed out that one of my teeth seems to still be a bit crooked to me. He took a closer look — and agreed! So, instead of doing the bonding right away, he ordered a set of x-rays (which this practice doesn’t usually do for adult patients mid-treatment, I learned), so he could see which teeth are actually in proper alignment. I got the x-ray taken after my adjustment, and I’m hoping to get a printout of the x-ray at my next adjustment.

When I called recently to schedule my next adjustment (since they weren’t scheduling seven weeks out when I was at my last adjustment), the receptionist let me know that I’m slated to get more brackets put on, and that will take more time than usual. Neither Dr. D. nor his assistant mentioned anything about that at my visit, but I had been expecting it at some point, since my original doctor had told me that they’d be tying in my molars eventually, to get the back aligned with the front.

So, it seems that we’re nearing the endgame. I still have a few gaps here and there, and my midline is a little off, and my back molars are way out of line with everything else, but my teeth look so much straighter than they did, and they’re so much easier to keep clean.

I’m guessing I might have another close encounter with the periodontist after all is said and done, thanks to my receding gumline, but I’m perfectly OK with that.